Monday, June 14

Before the show, we headed to the juice-joint, where I found myself with a pint of carrot/ginger juice. Ok, yes, I was thinking "what would Malary order?"!! But anyway the ginger really gave it some snap. (Btw, David Carradine was more elusive and nowhere to be found. I paid for my own beta carotene.) ...

Last night’s Jonathan Richman concert at the Bowery Ballroom was one of his more memorable New York performances of the past five years. He mixed some of the song from the upcoming CD, some very old songs (Girlfren, Old World, Pablo Picasso) and he put a twist on many of the standards like Let Her Go into the Darkness, Springtime in New York and Lesbian Bar ...

I just woke up from last night's exciting concert with Jonathan Richman at the Ottobar (Toxic Inferno) in Baltimore. This time the atmosphere was much less toxic. They had the AC on full blast up until the music started causing frigid conditions that gradually wore off to slightly hot this time. They put no smoking signs up everywhere, but unfortunately the crowd ignored it and there was a nicotine haze over the venue ...

Saturday, June 12

Leroy Radcliffe acknowledges that some people are put off by that. "Really put off -- almost insulted," the guitarist says. "Like it's insulting to their intelligence. I understand that. I'm not blind to it. I can step aside from my understanding and love for Jonathan and see that point of view. If I'm gonna be seriously analyzing music all my life instead of enjoying it -- picking apart Joni Mitchell and being intellectual all the time -- if I wanted to do that I would be aghast at some things. But it's the '80s, y'know? It's not the '60s anymore."

Jerry Harrison says that he heard one of the recent Modern Lovers albums while in Europe with Talking Heads: "I heard the album with 'Egyptian Reggae' and I liked the instrumentals. But I felt his songwriting was going through this awfully cute stage. I thought he'd be perfect for Misterogers."

Is it an effort for Richman to shake off 15 years of inhibitions?

"I'm still gettin' freer," he says seriously. "I'm gettin' younger all the time."

Monday, June 7

... tomorrow at about 7 am EST and I posted the info to the ListGod JoJo List, so check there, and now my computer's failing ... I think it's all the energy in the air ... so this post only needs to stay on for 24 hours, so just type "VENUS and SUN" in Google or anywhere, and find out WHERE you can watch this once every 122(give or take:) years and THIS is bigger than the FULL STRAWBERRY MOON, and it's all happening in the midst of a Blue Moon July to come!

I never said I was MALARY SUN ... but tomorrow morning ... watch this thing you can tell your cat's grandkitties about! Turn on the news ... it's no secret ... and tell your story if you get one!! I think you just might!

Signing off to get up at 7 am tomorrow ... camera in hand and all ... MALARY SUN just this once. Venus ... wasn't she the Goddess of love? :) That's Amore!

MALARY MOON ... last minute report on the SUN and what will be happening to it! It's THE DAY BEFORE!!!! :)

Wednesday, June 2

I called this number three times already today
But I, I got scared, I put
It back in place, I put my phone back in place.
I still don't know if I
should have called up.
Look, just tell me why don't ya if I'm out of place.
'Cause here's your chance to make me feel awkward
And wish that I had
never even called up this place.
I saw you though today walk by with hippie Johnny.
I had to call up and say how I want to take his place.

So this phone call today concerns hippie Johnny.
He's always stoned, he's never straight.
I saw you today, you know, walk by with hippie Johnny.
Look, I had to call up and say, I want to take his place.
See he's stoned, hippie Johnny.
Now get this, I'm straight and I want to take his place.
Now look, I like him too, I like hippie Johnny.
But I'm straight
and I want to take his place.
I said, I'm straight
I said, I'm straight
I'm proud to say
Well I'm straight and I want to take his place.

Now I've watched you walk around here.
I've watched you meet these
boyfriends, I know, and you tell me how they're deep.
Look but, if these guys, if they're really so great,
tell me, why can't they at least take this place
and take it straight? Why always stoned,
like hippie Johnny is?
I'm straight and I want to take his place.
Oh I'm certainly not stoned, like hippie Johnny is.
I'm straight and I want to take his place.
I said, I'm straight
I said, I'm straight
I'm straight
I'm straight and I want to take his place
All right you Modern Lovers what do you say?
(I'm straight!)
Tell the world now
(I'm straight!)
I said
(I'm straight!)
Yeah I'm straight and I want to take his place.

Ian: The first verse rhymes "place", "place", "place" and "place". I don't know why i like that but i do.

It is an anti-hippie song, but not for the wrong reasons. Some people seem to hate hippies because they are smelly, (which is irrelevant) or idealistic (whereas in fact idealism- peace and love and optimism etc- is a very GOOD thing). Jonathan criticizes them for a better reason- because of shorthand pretentions to "deepness" which were seemingly gained merely by wearing the hippy uniform as a badge of "deepness". This uniform shut out people who happened to genuinely think for themselves, people who happened to not like to dress that way, who preferred to keep their head clear from drugs,,,,, to still love the arcane old world and their parents and short hair. Such people (like Jonathan) were made to feel inferior and "out of place". This song is a gesture of defiance. It uses discredited "straight" language of the discredited previous generation ("where's his backbone?") which must have seemed very provocative, perverse and disorienting coming from someone so young, and set to the most modern, cutting edge music.

June itself is a VERY POWERFUL Month.
The FULL "Strawberry" Moon comes -- 20 minutes into June 3rd, EDT! So stay awake the night of the 2nd to catch this event 20 minutes after midnight. Or lay in bed and notice your sudden craving for STRAWBERRIES! DREAM ABOUT STRAWBERRIES! June has always been the best month to harvest these delicacies. Dip them in chocolate, whipped cream, add them to a blender drink, and remember to THANK the MOON as you taste away and say "ahhh ... it doesn't get any better than this!" Notice all the Strawberry Festivals going on around your town!

And what else about June?
SUMMER begins with the solstice on the 20th at 8:57 pm, EDT.
But that SUMMER FEELING should kick in before that ... with the first STRAWBERRY you eat this month! Here's an EASTERN time chart that can guide you through the month. Each phase causes different effects ... keep a journal! Share it with me! Share it with Jojoblog, the JOJO-list, the Rockin Leprechauns -- just don't keep moon feelings inside or... who knows what could happen! Tell your cat if you must. Tell the purple haired lady at Krogers. He/she is going through similar changes.

So that covers June Moon, but a peek at what exciting news is in store for July! an on topic: BLUE MOON!! (using the definition of "two full moons in one Month")

Just to give you a peek ahead to jot in your calendars, the first full moon in July will be July 2nd at 11:09 (military Eastern time), and then the BLUE MOON in July will be right at the end ... July 31st at 18:05 (military Eastern time)... Of course each of these moons has a meaning and special effects attached, but you'll have to wait until next month's column to learn about that!

Tuesday, June 1

to cleverly mark this off from my postings elsewhere, i have resolved to utilise no uppercase letters....

i'm advised one can deposit gems on almost (?) any subject here. but all i can find are jojo related items. this would seem to make either this site or the 2 groups pretty irrelevant

sounds fine to me

so - to be completely parochial - whuppen to the femme fashion for baring midriffs all the time? right through the winter (not a _very_ cold one here admittedly) girls were posing with varying sizes of bared bellies. now it's sunny on the coast - and they're nearly all covered up!

Disclaimer

Jojoblog is maintained with respect by fans for fans. Jonathan Richman does not use the internet or own a computer. Any communication from him to the Jojoblog community is sent through his publicist, Debbie Gulyas of Blue Arrow Records.